U.K. Stocks Little Changed as Italy Borrowing Costs Jump

June 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks were little changed as
borrowing costs rose at debt auctions by Italy and Germany, and
U.S. retail sales fell in May.

J Sainsbury Plc slid 2.6 percent after reporting revenue at
stores open at least a year that rose less than analysts’
estimates. Man Group Plc slipped 3.4 percent after Barclays Plc
lowered its price forecast. Kewill Plc surged 13 percent after
Kestrel Bidco Ltd. offered to buy the company.

The FTSE 100 Index gained 0.2 percent to 5,483.81 at the
close of trade in London as 58 stocks fell, 43 rose and one was
unchanged. The gauge has lost 8.1 percent from its 2012 high on
March 16 as concern mounted that Greece will be forced to leave
the euro area. The broader FTSE All-Share Index added 0.1
percent today and Ireland’s ISEQ Index dropped 0.4 percent.

“There’s still caution because of the Greek elections over
the weekend,” David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index,
said in a phone interview. “Nothing dramatic will happen in the
next couple of days.”

Greeks head to the polls on June 17 after an inconclusive
May 6 election that catapulted into second place a party opposed
to budget-austerity accords tied to 240 billion euros ($301
billion) in international aid pledges for Greece since May 2010.

Borrowing Costs

Italy’s borrowing costs surged at the sale of 6.5 billion
euros of Treasury bills after the 100 billion-euro bailout of
Spain’s banking system failed to stop contagion from the
region’s debt crisis.

The Rome-based Treasury sold the one-year bills at 3.972
percent, 1.6 percentage points more than the 2.34 percent at the
previous auction on May 11. Investors bid for 1.73 times the
amount offered, down from 1.79 times last month.

Germany sold 4.04 billion euros of 10-year bunds at an
average yield of 1.52 percent, up from a rate of 1.47 percent
the last time the nation sold the securities on May 16.

Investors bid for 5.81 billion euros of the bunds,
exceeding the 5 billion-euro maximum sales target for the
auction, the Bundesbank said in a statement today.

Retail sales in the U.S. fell in May for a second month as
slower employment and subdued wage gains damped demand, a sign
the world’s largest economy is cooling.

The 0.2 percent decrease followed a similar decline in
April that was previously reported as a gain, Commerce
Department figures showed today in Washington. Last month’s drop
matched the median forecast of 79 economists surveyed by
Bloomberg News. Sales excluding automobiles slumped by the most
in two years.

Sainsbury Revenue

Sainsbury slid 2.6 percent to 283.5 pence. The U.K.’s
third-largest supermarket company said revenue at stores open at
least a year rose 1.4 percent in the 12 weeks ended June 9,
excluding gasoline sales. That missed the 1.8 percent median
estimate of nine analysts compiled by Bloomberg and was less
than the prior quarter’s 2.6 percent increase.